Porsche 918 Spyder with Gulf Oil racing livery up for sale

When the Porsche 918 Spyder that features the stunning Gulf Oil racing livery was up for sale, it came at a price of $845,000. That was relatively affordable, considering that the other rival hypercars such as Ferrari LaFerrari and McLaren P1 fetched higher prices. Now that all 918 Spyders were sold out and only two of them had featured the Gulf Oil racing livery, this model is expected to go up in value.

Interestingly, DuPont Registry is already selling one of these two 918 Spyders for an undisclosed price. However, it would not be a surprise if the Porsche 918 Spyder on sale will be sold for a seven-figure amount.

After all, aside from sporting the very rare Oil racing livery, it features the Weissach performance package, which helped it set its fastest time on the Nurburgring.

Moreover, the hypercar’s color scheme is continued on the custom luggage that comes along with them. When Porsche unveiled the 918 Spyder at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show, it was considered as a personification of the Porsche idea as it boasts of performance that doesn’t sacrifice efficiency, and of racing technology that is suitable for everyday use.

Powertrain

Featuring a hybrid drive, the 918 Spyder provides an ideal machine to demonstrate the potential of this technology – specifically because this hypercar provides a sterling performance without having to sacrifice fuel efficiency. In fact, the 918 Spyder is powered by an engine that develops over 880 bhp, with an estimated NEDC fuel consumption of just three liters per 100 km.

It should be noted that this consumption figure is lower than the majority of compact cars currently plying the streets or are being sold. This is basically how the Porsche 911 managed to become the most successful sports car in the past 50 years. Power is mainly provided by a 4.6-liter, eight-cylinder engine that churns up to 608 bhp of output.

This V8 engine, derived from the one fitted on the RS Spyder endurance race car, could provide engine speeds of up to 9,150 rpm and around 132 bhp/liter in power output. This engine’s powerful is around 26 bhp/liter higher than the one found in the Carrera GT, which means that this output is the highest developed by a naturally aspirated Porsche engine.

Proving to be a clear indication of the power that lies underneath the hood of the 918 Spyder engine is its impressing sound produced mainly by the exhaust tailpipes -- "top pipes" -- that terminate above the engine in the upper part of the rear end.

Since the 918 Spyder carries the DNA of the 911, it has become one of the modern versions of Porsche’s sports cars. Just like in Porsche's current hybrid models, the V8 engine in the 918 Spyder is linked to the hybrid module – comprised of a 115-kW electric motor and a decoupler -- as a parallel hybrid.

This parallel hybrid configuration means that power is sent to the rear wheels – through the seven-speed Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK) transmission -- either from combustion engine, the electric motor, or from both.

Since the power unit assembly in the 918 Spyder is located in front of the rear axle, it has no direct mechanical link to the front axle. Amazingly, the Porsche 918 Spyder is a product of the carmaker’s venture into motorsports.

In fact, some developments to the Porsche race car for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2014 have been applied to the 918 Spyder. Likewise, some features on the 918 Spyder were adapted for the Porsche race car.

For instance, the structural concept derived from a rolling chassis comes as standard for Porsche race cars and is used on the 918 Spyder. The same is true for the design of the hypercar’s engine, which is derived from the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) race car, the RS Spyder. Additionally, the hypercar’s supporting monocoque structures and unit carriers are made of CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced plastic).

The electric motors produce 286 hp (210 kW) at 6,500 rpm. When combined, the hybrid system delivers a total output of 887 hp (652 kW) and a maximum torque that varies from 917 Nm (676 lb-ft) to 1,280 Nm (944 lb-ft), depending on gear ratio.